The present invention relates to jewelry components that are magnetically attractable to each other so a plurality of such components can be joined or combined into rings, bracelets, chains, chokers, necklaces, watchbands or the like, with the magnetic force holding the components together. Also, components can be connected in any one of a number of positional relationships so that the final jewelry article is self-sizing to the wearer.
When a person wishes to purchase an article of jewelry to be worn, care must be taken to assure that the size of the piece is correct. When purchasing an item such as a bracelet or necklace, the size is selectable from one of a plurality of standard lengths at the desire of the purchaser. Other items, such as watchbands, are provided with removable links so that the size can be selected to conform to the size of the person's wrist. For other items, such as a ring, the jeweler will usually measure the size of the person's finger so that the ring can easily slide along the person's finger into place. It is often difficult to properly size the ring so that it can be snugly maintained in place as it must also be sufficiently large to pass over the person's knuckles, especially for people that have arthritic joints. This means that the ring must be sized larger to accomplish this and then will be too loose when in the proper position. Also, the person's finger can change in size over the years, and a ring that is correctly sized at one time can end up being incorrectly sized in the future.
The accommodation of different sizes creates difficulties for the jewelry manufacturer and seller, in that different sizes must be made available, or specialized orders must be custom made to the person's actual or desired dimensions. It would be desirable to avoid having to carry large inventories of different sized jewelry articles, as well as to avoid having to make custom sized pieces for each customer. These problems are now solved by the present invention.